


Irrelevant

by Irradiated_Demigod



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anti-Fluff and Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 10:40:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10534788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irradiated_Demigod/pseuds/Irradiated_Demigod
Summary: A homecoming surprise that convinces Sasuke to leave the Hidden Leaf for good, if only to spare someone he cares for more pain.





	

The fact he was wasn't always there was the cause, no doubt. She was happy, or, at least, would be. That's all that mattered, this was for the best, for everyone. Save, perhaps, for him, not that such a fact mattered.

Kakashi was a better man than he was, after all.

That didn't do anything to diminish the sting in his chest, the knowledge that she didn't need him anymore, that she would be happy, moving on, stop looking toward the horizon waiting for him to come home. If he could give her peace by staying away, by always keeping that horizon clear, to keep his form from distracting her from what really mattered. When he had first realized, he'd been angry, mostly at himself, but that flame died out, leaving behind a hole that was only filled by acceptance. Accepting what had happened, and making the choice to move on. He left his ring in an empty envelope on the doorstep, laying on the welcome mat. He had failed her, for everything he had believed, for all that he had said, for all he had done. Looking back, he finally saw the truth, that his life had been a chain of failures, as he left the village for the last time, he wondered how he, an absolute failure, had ever managed to believe that he could have kept her happy.

He was never there when she needed him the most.

Even so, she never failed to recognize his chakra, though he had no idea how she managed to dress so quickly, or even reach the door in time. The paper fell from his hands, for a fleeting moment he could feel her eyes upon him. Their gazes met, she opened her mouth to speak. "Don't worry, Sakura. I won't interfere anymore." Those seconds, a collection of them, passed so slowly that it felt like time had frozen. Emotions passed between them, unspoken, and, in the end, she misunderstood. His final failure. That she didn't understand why he felt the way he did, that it was the only way he knew how to cope. Severing the bonds to preserve his own soul, knowing that, if he didn't, he'd fall apart. Without her to anchor him, to hold all that made him who he was, in place, he would lose all of it. The man she loved, who struggled to stay in the light, would slip away, fall into the darkness, and, there, be consumed by it.

"I'll check in...occasionally.", even that promise felt like he was over-stepping his bounds, he had no right, but she accepted it, assured him it would be alright.

And then he was gone, leaving her standing in front of the envelope, content in knowing that she would eventually move on. He had no delusions, she made the choice to leave, not him, this was just his way of letting her go. She had to be free of him, holding on would only cause more pain, she had been with Kakashi first, it was with Kakashi that she belonged, all he had been was a mistake, a sin, he knew that now. Whatever emotions were there, however real, or endless the love had been, it had been a mistake.

That fact hurt worse than anything else, worse than the distance, worse than being left, was that everything he had done, they had done, would always be a mistake in her eyes.

Another failure.

All he prayed was that this would be his last one, he had no doubt that the next would kill him. The worst part about that was that, deep down, he wasn't so sure he was opposed to that result anymore.


End file.
